The five most unexpected things in the Nuggets-OKC series

Russell Westbrook, for all of the great things he brings to the basketball court, is not known as a 3-point marksman. During the regular season he hit just 33 percent of them, which is average at best. Furthermore, he only averaged 1.3 3-point attempts per game. He did hit one single 3-point shoot in four games against the Nuggets in the regular season.

That has flipped entirely in the playoffs. Westbrook hasn’t morphed into Ray Allen, but he’s nailed 6-of-13 shots from 3-point range in this series. He hit three in both the first and second games of the series, before the Nuggets got semi-control of him at the arc in Game 3, where Westbrook missed all three of his attempts. Still, it’s been a thorn in the Nuggets’ side given the fact that it altered how they wanted to defend him, which in turn alters everything that happens around that. For Oklahoma City it has been an unexpected boon to its offense, which has stretched the Nuggets defense thin all series long.

Nuggets’ fourth quarter struggles

The fourth was a quarter the Nuggets shined in during the regular season, averaging 26.5 points in the period. That has not been the case against Oklahoma City. Their average points in the fourth quarter dropped by almost five, to 21.7, in the series – a fact that stings even more for the Nuggets considering they’ve lost two of the games by four points and three points, respectively.

The Nuggets have shot just 36.2 percent in the fourth quarter during the series, compared to shooting 44.4 percent in quarters 1-3. Also, the team’s 3-point percentage drops from 36.8 percent in the first three quarters to 17.6 in the fourth. Oddly enough, though, the one aspect of the Nuggets game that improves during the fourth quarter is the free throw shooting. That goes from 66.2 percent in the first three quarters to a more than respectable 76.9 in the fourth. The Nuggets have not turned the ball over much in the fourth during the series, they just haven’t made the shots when it counts.

Serge Ibaka

He was thrust into the spotlight with one statement-making 22-point, 16-rebound performance in Game 3. Oklahoma City players and coaches insist they’ve seen this coming, but the nation is just getting introduced to Ibaka, the second year power forward, born in Brazzaville, Zaire.

Ibaka was always known for the energy he brought to the team. But against the Nuggets, Ibaka has started to look like one of the league’s best at his position. His numbers are all up from the regular season – points (12.3 from 9.9), rebounds (11.0 from 7.6), blocks (3.3 from 2.4), and free throw percentage (.929 from .750). The only aspect of his game that is down is his shooting percentage (.414 from .543), but as the Nuggets learned the hard way, if you leave Ibaka open he’s more than capable of knocking down a mid-range shot.

Nuggets’ lack of energy in Game 2

In the playoffs it’s usually a given that at the very least a team brings energy to the game. Whether said team does things right or wrong during the contest is a different matter. But the Nuggets, in Game 2 after what probably should have been an emboldening effort in Game 1, were lifeless at the start of the second game of the series. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, started the game with a fire it didn’t have in the first game and rode a 31-15 lead in the first quarter, which grew into a 26-point lead, all the way to the finish. It was a tone-setting contest that gave the Thunder extra confidence it carried into a Game 3 victory.

Nuggets’ free throw shooting

The Nuggets were never one of the NBA’s best free throw shooting teams, but what has happened in the playoffs – which actually had its genesis late in the regular season – has been puzzling to everyone involved. They have gone from a team that averaged 76.5 percent from the charity stripe during the regular season to one that is averaging 68.7 percent in the playoffs.

Across the board, players that shoot free throws fairly well – Danilo Gallinari (86.2 percent), Raymond Felton (80.5), J.R. Smith (73.8), and yes, even Nene (71.1) – have all seen their percentages drop like bricks from the regular season. Only Wilson Chandler continues to hit his average, and Chris Andersen has shot free throws over his average.

“It’s kind of a heavy situation in how do you fix it?” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “Practicing free throws when you’re not tired I think is kind of a waste of time. The guys missing our free throws, you’re not going to change their form. Every playoff series has what-ifs. We can’t live there; we have to think about the future.”

After the trade deadline, the Nuggets were playing with a chip on their shoulders. New players wanted to prove they had game, Ty embraced the starting role. Now, what are they playing for? What do they want to prove? Do they think they can get to the finals? I don’t know.

You don’t have to ask these questions to the Thunder..they have a clear goal, and that’s to win a championship. They strongly believe they are good enough to win a title.

After the trade, Nuggets won that many games because they were just a matchup nightmare for the opposing teams. We would just out-run then, there was better ball movement, guys played with a lot of energy. In the playoffs, Thunder have figured out our team. We don’t have a go-to guy or a closer. We can’t out-run the Thunder because they are just as athletic and fast as we are, they have size & Ty hasn’t been able to drive the ball. Ibaka and Perkins just clogg up the paint.

George Karl killed our confidence even before the series started when he basically said we are scared to play OKC. George is kinda right. Thunder are just not a good matchup for the Nuggets. They have size, athleticism, stars and play as a team.

Just a bad matchup for us..I strongly believe we would have beaten the Mavs or Portland if we faced them

http://www.facebook.com/ajleff Andrew Leff

It’s not just the matchup, though–it’s the lack of big scoring from the Nuggets all series long. Sure, there is definitely balance to the lineup with such a deep bench, but nobody scores in bunches. Before last night, nobody had scored more than 22 points in a game–and 15 was tops in Game Three. That’s untenable against a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Lawson stepped up last night with 27, and that gave the Nuggs a win. They need more performances like that going forward. Check it out:

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times.